THE REAL PANDEMIC — THE FEAR VIRUS
From: L. Michael Hall
2020 Neurons #11
March 12, 2020
While the coronavirus (covid-19) is a new and unknown medical problem, and like the flu and other viruses, it is to be dealt with intelligently. The real pandemic that we’re facing today, however, is the pandemic of fear. What we know today is that the great majority of people who will catch the virus will recover. That’s been the case in China.
The real pandemic is not even fear. Fear is a good healthy emotion when there is something truly threatening and dangerous. Fear motivates us to take precautions. In this case, washing hands regularly, social distancing, staying healthy, etc. Fear, however, becomes unhealthy when it is unrealistic and exaggerated. And fear becomes toxic and dangerous when we are fearing fear. With healthy fear, the energy that the emotion of fear evokes gives you something to do —a way of directing your energies to do what you can.
With unhealthy fear, the energy that is evoked has nowhere to go except to your mind, your emotions, and your body. You become fearful of yourself, your experience, and all sorts of concepts— like the future. This is what has been happening— mostly thanks to the media who puts it front and center 24/7. People are fearful of what the coronavirus means, or could mean, and that has led to a lot of panicking. It has led to runs on goods at grocery stores, the sell-off of the markets on Wall Street, cancellations on traveling, non-medical people wearing masks (which does nothing), etc.